The Nation Newspaper

Tag: vista

  • New vista opens

    Beyond providing qualitative learning, a new educational centre in the nation’s capital proves the private sector has much to offer, victor oluwasegun 

    Education is essential for growth and national development. And the enormous resources being pumped into the sector annually by the Federal government is sadly insufficient. The need for private sector participation has been continually emphasized by many pundits.

    The desire for qualitative players in the sector who will impact the youths positively and close the yawning educational chasm has never been more real than in the present circumstance in the country’s history

    This is why the commissioning of Brookstone/Northern Coalition of UK Universities (NCUK) International Foundation School in Abuja was a source of excitement for the city last week.

    For those parents seeking the best university education abroad for their children and wards especially in the United Kingdom, a new vista has opened with the commissioning of the Abuja Centre of Brookstone/ NCUK as they have direct access to 16 universities in the UK after a year’s foundation school.

    The Chairman, House Committee on Basic Education and Services, Hon. Zakari Mohammed who chaired the First Educational Fair of the School in Abuja last week commended the School for winning the Best Academic Award at NCUK Partner Conference 2016.

    Mohammed, who spoke at Brookstone / NCUK 2017 Education Fair in Abuja where the award was presented, noted that it was a feat the country should be proud of.

    The NCUK has over 30 centres globally including partnerships in Kenya, UK Ireland, China, Japan, South Korea, Columbia in South America, but gave the award to Brookstone International Foundation School for being the best academic partner in the world.

    Mohammed, said the award is no small feat, adding that education is the bedrock of civilization and that Nigeria and Britain have always had a healthy partnership especially in the area of Education.

    He said private sector participation is essential in education as the government cannot do all that is necessary to ensure quality education for all. According to him, the Chairman of the Governing Board, Kalada Apiafi and his wife, Betty should be encouraged.

    According to the lawmaker, it would be impossible for the teeming youths in the country to get the right type of education unless the government creates an enabling environment for private sector participation in education.

    Speaking on the award, he said: “I think, it’s a translation of hard work. It didn’t just come overnight and from all the testimony we’ve heard today, it’s like the icing on the cake.

    “Definitely what you should know is that whatever you’re doing people are watching you so, I believe that hard work was translated here today and the award, I wish them well.

    “But it’s the beginning of better things to come for the school from the benefit of hindsight. If from 2003 some of these feats can be recorded, it means that so much hard work has gone into it.

    The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Paul Arkwright in his speech said it is wrong for people to say the United Kingdom does not give visas to students wishing to study in the UK. According to him, over 90 percent of visa request from Nigeria is approved.

    “Some people think that perhaps the UK government approach to Nigerian student, that we don’t want them in the UK is wrong. Indeed we value very highly Nigerian students.

    “I don’t know how many Nigerian students you think are currently studying in British Universities. It’s about Eighteen Thousand, that’s the fourth largest international group. I don’t know whether you know that over 90 percent of all visa applications to study in the UK are approved…not rejected, approved, for Nigerians who want to study in the UK.

    “There’s been an increase in 8 percent in the number of students since 2009/2010 and we do hope the growth will continue as awareness of the quality of the overall education experience in the UK continue to increase.”

    Andrew Straughan , the Marketing Development Executive for NCUK while speaking on why they were giving Brookstone the award said:

    “Brookstone throughout the three years we have worked with them has continued to display the very highest quality both in terms of the academic support they can give to their students and also through the pastoral process.

    “We feel that Brookstone demonstrate the key qualities which is why we thought it was very apt to give them the award.”

    He said the NCUK has over thirty Centres globally “these include partnerships in Kenya, UK Ireland, China, Japan, South Korea, Columbia in South America.

    “It’s an award to be very proud of for Brookstone and we are happy to give them the award too.”

    The Chairman, Board of Governors, Mr. Kalada Apiafi, while speaking about the school said the International Foundational Year is a progression of strategic plan.

    “We started our Nursery and Primary in 2003 and we proceeded to open the secondary school in 2006. And then we partnered with NCUK to establish an international foundation year Programme in 2013. And here we are setting up an international Foundation Year Programme in Abuja in 2017.

     

  • A new vista

    •A new era unfolds as Nigeria’s first high-speed, standard gauge rail line flags off

    It may be no exaggeration to assert that Nigeria finally joins the rank of developed and industrial world only yesterday when her first standard gauge, double track rail line was opened. It was a moment of joy and back-slapping as President Muhammadu Buhari flagged off the 186.5 kilometres Abuja-Kaduna line built at a cost of $1.46 billion.

    The rail line project which was initiated by the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration in 2009 was built in the main by the Goodluck Jonathan administration, with the current government putting the finishing touches.

    Regardless of the fact that the standard gauge system had been in existence for about 200 years, it is indeed a feat worthy of celebration that Nigeria eventually achieved it. The import of this is that our rail system would be more versatile and better connected than before. This means there will be less derailments and accidents while services will be better scheduled and faster.

    The double track lines have nine stations and can travel as fast a 150km per hour, conveying over 500 passengers per trip.

    More important, a more expansive rail system on the busy Abuja-Kaduna corridor promises improved movement of commuters, goods and machinery. There will be less vehicular traffic, less wear-and-tear on the roads and of course, less accidents. The benefits are more numerous than can be captured here. We can only hope that railway development in Nigeria can be aggressively pursued as has been enunciated by President Buhari at the historic event.

    Hear him: “I wish to assure Nigerians that most state capitals and major commercial and production centres will be linked with the railway system as a way of bringing rapid socio-economic development and improving the quality of life of Nigerians, and promoting social and regional integration.”

    There is also a 25-year Strategic Railway Master Plan aimed at rehabilitating the existing 3,505 kms of narrow gauge rail line into standard gauge rail line across the country. The president also promised to pursue with vigour, the rehabilitation and construction of other major rail lines like Lagos-Calabar and Kano-Lagos lines.

    With major cities and state capitals of the country interlinked with standard rail lines, Nigeria would have been set on the path of her first industrial revolution and a new era of economic development.

    One must commend the roles of the Chinese government for providing the bulk of the finance grant and the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) for delivering on the project. It is remarkable that it took the Chinese to introduce modern railways to Nigeria while the British government which colonised and took advantage of Nigeria’s natural resources only built self-serving narrow-gauge lines across the country.

    To think that the London Underground metro lines were built about 150 years ago and coupled with the fact that rail technology was invented and modernised by the British who exported it to far-flung colonies like the United States, Canada, India and Pakistan, among others! But rail transportation in Nigeria remains stagnated over the years much like most other sectors.

    While we commend the Buhari administration for speedily crossing the ‘Ts’ and dotting the “Is’ of this project, it is noteworthy that in all the fanfare and self-adulation of the inauguration ceremonies, no mention was made of the past administrations that conceived and toiled over this historic project for nearly 10 years.

    We are of the opinion that former President Jonathan ought to have been given ample credit, if not a pride of place, at the ceremony. Apart from exemplifying statesmanship, it would have symbolised the importance of continuity in government, among other salutary imports that singular gesture would have imbued on the polity.

    We, however, are on to a new age, especially if the new facility is well maintained, managed and run according to global standards.

  • Osun: New vista for rural development

    Osun: New vista for rural development

    If the concept of Master Plan of Action (MAP) for local government areas in Osun State becomes a reality, it  may be the tonic needed to turn the state around in terms of rural development and  social integration, reports SINA FADARE

    There is no part of the country with all the basic features of a model community. What is referred to as development is a far cry from the much-needed sustainable human development, which, in itself, is the ultimate objective of growth.

    In the past have been paying lip service to this all-important need. None could step up action that will ensure real and sustainable community development.

    Attempts at rural development in the past have been “top-bottom”, with no consideration for the participation of the beneficiaries of such interventions in the development process. The result is the abandonment of such development projects and a colossal waste of public funds.

    A fresh global awareness on the importance of the “bottom-up” approach to development is buttressed by the fact that man, the direct beneficiary of every development intervention, should be recognised as an indispensable agent of sustainable development if efforts injected into the process will not be futile.

    This claim is also supported by the fact that the real wealth of a nation is its people, making it imperative to ensure their participation in the process to give them a sense of ownership, belonging and sustainability.

    At present, Osun State, under the leadership of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has become the leading light in the “bottom-up” approach to development. The governor is indubitably committed to ensuring the development of all communities in the state. He is exemplifying how to turn around communities with active participation of the people towards fast-tracking sustainable development improved standard of living and subsequently halt rural-urban drift.

    Buoyed by his desire to improve the lot of the people and despite the precarious financial situation of the state, the governor has come up with a master plan of action for the development of all communities in the 30 local government areas. He not only committed funds to this exercise, but also directed the Ministry of Water Resources, Rural Development and Community Affairs not to leave out any community in the development gale blowing through the state.

    Consequently, the ministry commenced a workshop on Packaging of Master Plan of Action (MPA) for the 30 local governments and the Area office in December last year. The workshop was aimed at engendering community-driven document that will fast-track holistic development of the state, while the objectives are to improve the understanding of the participants on the concept of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and Community Plan of Action (CPA) in order to equip participants with the relevant skills to conduct PRA and CPA and to enable them to appreciate the need for the MPA as development strategy for the state.

    At the end of the workshop, not less than 2,288 participants; made up of officials from the line ministries, local governments and OYES Cadets drawn from the three senatorial districts in the state, would have been trained in the conduct of PRA and CPA; the two major processes that will birth the Master Plan of Action for development in the state.

    Participants from Osun East, Osun West and Osun Central Senatorial Districts have been trained and are already in their assigned communities for the conduct of the PRA and CPA. They have been sent out to all communities to interact with the people and find out their challenges and potential.

    The information gathered will form the nucleus of the MPA which will, in turn, make government interventions in such communities easier and better appreciated. With the MPA, any local government chairman who assumes office will have a working document which contains the needs of all communities in his council as agreed by the people of the communities.

    All the council chief needs to do is to pick the felt needs one by one and provide them for the communities as demanded.

    Another beauty of the MPA is that it will form the basis for assessing the performance of the council chairmen during their tenures, while it will also make budget preparation easier for the councils. Apart from these, the document will also provide opportunity for communities to access development partners’ assistance.

     

  • New vista for investors in agro- marketing

    New vista for investors in agro- marketing

    With the establishment of a model vitamin A cassava sales outlet in Nigeria, the first of its kind in Africa, to link suppliers of cassava products with demand agents (bulking agents, entrepreneurs and consumers) of the products, the search for a robust template to enable the organised private sector see the available profitable investment opportunities in commercial cassava farming, may have started yielding result, writes, Chikodi Okereocha. 

    For farmers and investors along the vitamin A cassava value chain, brighter prospects are here. A model vitamin A cassava sales outlet, the first of its kind in Africa, has been established in Nigeria. The one-stop model sales outlet, known as the ‘Farmers’ Centre’ will act as primary bulking point and link up suppliers of vitamin A cassava products (farmers and processors) with demand agents, like (bulking agents, entrepreneurs and consumers) of the products-stems, roots, fufu mash, garri, fufu, packaged fufu flour, and confectionaries (cakes, chin-chin, tidbits and pies).

    The innovation, which is the result of the ingenuity of HarvestPlus Nigeria in conjunction with its development partners, is seen as a major milestone in the search for a good template to enable the OPS see the available opportunities to invest in commercial cassava farming at a profit.

    “We need partners to buy into this initiative to make it a reality across the length and breadth of the country,” the Country Manager of HarvestPlus,  Dr. Paul Ilona, said, last week, at the  launch of its outlet in Ibadan, Oyo State.

    He said the model outlet is HarvestPlus’ strategy to ensure that Nigerians have access to the bio-fortified crop to address the health challenges of vitamin A deficiency. “We need to establish 300 of this sales’ outlets across Nigeria, so that Nigerians can enjoy the health benefits of the crop,” he said, adding that with over 500,000 households  cultivating the product, and over 550,000  commercial farmers on board in the multiplication of the nutritious crop on over 1,000 hectares of farmland, the need to scale out the product to more Nigerians could not have come at a better time.

    In doing so however, HarvestPlus is not unmindful of the commercial viability of sustaining the demand and supply of vitamin A cassava products, hence the organisation is riding on the back of the opening of the model shop to encourage more investors to take advantage of the profitable business opportunities therein. “Our strategy relies a lot in providing catalysts that will drive investors. We want to see this model become very profitable because it is the profitability that people see that will make them want to invest in it,” Dr. Ilona told The Nation, on the sideline of the launch of the model shop.

    Ilona said there were  plans to hit the Lagos market and other major markets across the country soon. As part of the strategy to woo prospective investors, he explained: “In the next one or two months we are going to ensure that this center functions optimally and that we do the proper book-keeping that will show investors that there is a lot of money coming in. After the two months we will then go to the next stage of sensitisation, bring the investors here so that they will do all the calculations and see the benefits and the opportunities that exist in investing into the system. So, there is a lot of awareness creation that we need to do. We will be going into business education, we shall be relying a lot on advocacy.”

    Dr. Ilona also disclosed that HarvestPlus is riding on its electronic (e-market) platform, which he described as very potent, to attract investors and create markets for vitamin A cassava products. “Last week we got a request from Anambra State Government for almost 9, 000 bundles of vitamin A cassava stems. This is what makes the e-market to be very potent in creating markets. We also got request from Kwara State Government for 500 kilograms of garri. We are not working in Kwara, but somebody knows how to go online and do a request. So, we are hoping that soon, we shall bring all of you (the media) on board to help us communicate to Nigerians so that they can order for their vitamin A garri and fufu online,” he said.

    At a workshop by HarvestPlus, the organisation linked major players and investors along the vitamin A cassava value chain to its e-market portal. It identified bulking agents, cassava stem traders, and investors who were then linked with farmers and cassava processors to create market for vitamin A cassava products. The workshop, which had about 85  participants in attendance, was made up of farmers, processors, entrepreneurs, public and private investors, extension agents from farmer organisations, development and commercial partners of HarvestPlus, and tertiary agriculture institutions.

    Would these strategies do the magic of attracting investors to the business? “yes,” says Ilona. He has reasons to be so optimistic. For a start, Nigeria was among the earliest countries in which new varieties of cassava that are rich in vitamin A were released to farmers in 2011. Following the release of the new cassava varieties to farmers in 2011, over 500, 000 Nigerian households are said to be growing and eating the conventionally bred nutritious vitamin A cassava, which nutritionists say could meet up to 40 per cent of daily needs of Vitamin A for children under five.

    Also, Africa accounts for over half of the total global production of cassava, with Nigeria the single largest producer, producing over 54 million metric tons of cassava annually. Besides, an estimated 100 million Nigerians or 60 per cent of the country’s population eat cassava daily in one form or another. “We have our strength in agriculture,” Ilona maintained, adding, “If we truly want to help Nigeria; if we truly want to add value to the life of an average Nigerian, and we truly want to create jobs for them, agriculture is the area to go. No field in life will pay as much as agriculture does. You plant one grain of maize, it gives you 400 grains. No business gives you 400 per cent profit.”

    Continuing, Ilona asked, rhetorically, “How many oil wells do we have? How many hectares do we have in Nigeria to put into agriculture? According to him, Thailand depends a lot on agriculture, making more money than Nigeria makes from her oil. He said the money Thailand makes from cassava alone is much more than what Nigeria boasts of from oil. “We are always scared, the more scared we are however, the more we will be able to focus on our challxalue chain are seen by not a few analysts and experts as opportunities. The Deputy Director, HarvestPlus, Dr. Ina Schonberg, who launched the model shop, alluded to this when she said: “You (Nigerians) are known all over the world for your entrepreneurial spirit. Nigeria is a leader in Africa. We look forward to seeing Nigeria develop innovative strategies to scale up vitamin A cassavas well as vitamin A maize and build sustainability for the project in the country.”

    For investors willing to throw their hat in the ring, they would be encouraged by the growing preference of the yellow vitamin A cassava over the conventional one. Vitamin A cassava is yellow in colour because it contains high amounts of beta-carotene, unlike common white cassava. Beta-carotene is a naturally occurring substance that the body converts into vitamin A. Experts say that in Nigeria, an estimated 30 per cent of pre-school-aged children and 20 per cent of pregnant women suffer from vitamin A deficiency, resulting in poor vision, blindness and sometimes death. By eating the new yellow cassava variety, women and children can meet almost half their daily needs of vitamin A.

    HarvestPlus developed the nutritious cassava variety through conventional breeding in collaboration with IITA and National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, Umuahia, Abia State.

    The launch of the outlets was witnessed by scientists from IITA led by Cassava Breeder, Dr. Elizabeth Parkes; traditional rulers from Idiose, Ibadan, HarvestPlus developmental patners from Akwa-Ibom, Benue, Imo,and Oyo states, farmers, cassava processors, bulking agents, and entrepreneurs.